Administrative Assistant I

Legal Administrative SupportThis position is located in Legal. This employee will supervise two other administrative support staff to ensure that internal policies are followed and ensure the unit works as efficiently as possible. This employee will be primary contact for all public interaction that occurs in the building, as members of the public frequently come to the unit with questions concerning their past or present cases or with other legal questions in general. The primary purpose of this position is to provide administrative assistance and support to the legal unit in furthering the agency's mission of protecting children and preserving families. A wide variety of support activities are completed by this employee for the effective management of the Legal Unit. This employee is responsible for the flow of work entering and leaving the Legal Unit. This employee provides the support necessary for the Legal unit to accomplish work and for the smooth operation of the Unit. One of the major purposes is assisting with juvenile court. This employee may attend juvenile court to assist with activities that enhance the performance of agency staff and provide for the smooth transition from one case to another during the court session. This employee will provide information to the attorneys and paralegals to help coordinate and facilitate the flow of cases. This employee helps in the preparation for court and in updating the case files, court dates and other necessary information on the agency computer databases in preparation for the upcoming sessions of court. This employee is responsible for gathering, analyzing, editing or reporting information for the Legal Unit such as statistical data regarding cases scheduled for court, the number of cases already heard in court, the number of termination of parental rights cases clearing children for adoption, etc. Another major assignment of this employee is in working directly with the managing attorney. One demanding area is responding to informational, records and other requests from the staff and from attorneys, judges, and the general public. Responding to requests for confidential DSS records is ongoing, which requires knowledge, judgment, the ability to understand a number of different statutory requirements, and the proper procedures to be followed for each. This employee has an important role in preparing documents, memos, and correspondence for the Legal Unit. This employee schedules meetings, takes and distributes minutes, and handles many types of confidential information. This employee may be responsible for assisting in developing methods or procedures which impact the agency. The employee functioning at this level has great involvement in public relations especially in the issues related to children and adults. Within the Legal Unit are seven Attorneys and seven Paralegals to whom this employee will provide administrative assistance. Four attorneys and four paralegals receive direct support in as the primary legal teams assigned to juvenile court. The amount of time expended varies with the number and complexity of the cases in Court at any given time. This employee may attend the regularly scheduled Juvenile Court, and may be responsible for tracking who is available at any given time to be called for a case throughout the Court day to include the staff attorney, social workers and witnesses. Witnesses on telephone standby must be called during court to report to court by a specified time. Approximately half of the time of this position is devoted to juvenile court, which includes the time in court, preparing for court (by getting dockets copied, distributed to the appropriate people, and prepared for her use in Court), following up after court by recording information in the electronic tracking system, preparing subpoenas for the witnesses, getting orders copied and distributed as required, faxing copies of all orders that are appealable to respondent attorneys, updating the official files, scanning files into the digital scanning storage database and storing the files when a case is closed. In addition, all Motions and Termination of Parental Rights Petitions must be entered in the computer tracking system. This employee provides non-court assistance which includes collection of and dissemination of Court reports, all reports, requests for reimbursement, assisting with timesheets, invoices from witnesses, ordering materials, and other clerical assistance as needed. The employee in this position will generally work a regular schedule. When juvenile court is in session, this employee will be on notice to be prepared to work beyond the normal work day if court remains in session after the normal business schedule, which it frequently does. In the event that work is required beyond the normal work day, the employee in this position will be expected to adjust the time within the work week to avoid overtime when possible. Any changes in the court procedures or laws or regulations that impact the duties, requires new processes be learned. This position will also be responsible for all other duties as assigned in order to meet the requirements and needs of the legal unit and the agency.Minimum QualificationsCompletion of high school or equivalent and four years of progressively responsible secretarial or clerical/administrative/office management experience; or completion of a two-year secretarial science or business administration program and two years of progressively responsible secretarial or clerical/administrative, office management experience; or completion of a four-year program in a college or university preferably with major emphasis on coursework in business administration, public administration, or other related field; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.Knowledge, Skills and AbilitiesMust be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and Access. Substantive knowledge of office process and procedures, methods and practices, and the ability to apply them in the analysis of information and in decision making. Knowledge about the agency, the sections, how the agency functions, procedures used in different sections to acquire and share information. Substantive knowledge of and ability to use correct English, both verbal and written, including grammar, vocabulary, spelling and office terminology to compose and/or proofread correspondence, reports and materials. Considerable ability to record, compile, summarize and analyze data. Ability to plan and coordinate appointments, meetings, conferences and workshops. Ability to interpret and explain rules and regulations. Ability to exercise judgment and discretion in problem situations. Ability to answer inquiries independently and coordinate a variety of resources in acquiring information. Ability to communicate with co-workers and the public. Must be courteous. Good computer skills. Good cognitive skills. Ability to follow directions and follow through with assigned work. Detail oriented and accurate in all work. Ability to concentrate. Good organizational skills and ability.